The 2013 NCAA Division 1 wrestling championships will begin at Wells Fargo Arena on Tuesday morning, but for the fans, the fun began Wednesday.

"Two years of work spent getting ready and preparing everything, and tonight, we kick it off," said Chris Connolly, of the Iowa Events Center.

"The Fan Fest thing they're doing here is fantastic. It gives the fans something to do outside the arena. And people are coming from all around, not just the country, but the world, to be here at this tournament," said Ironside Apparel owner Mark Ironside.

For the Simpson family, the Fan Fest made the long trip from Oklahoma worthwhile.

"We drove up here (Wednesday) morning," said Kasey Simpson, from Oklahoma. "We wanted to come check everything down. They had a youth clinic today, and we're checking out all of the vendors and seeing what they have to sell."

"Luckily for me, we've got all Iowa Hawkeye merchandise. And we're in Iowa, with a lot of Iowa fans, so I'm expecting a pretty good weekend," said Ironside.

Fan Fest is designed to give everyone a chance to experience the excitement and intensity of college wrestling, organizers said.

"We're opening the night before the tournament starts, and then we're open Thursday prior to the session starting in the morning and open throughout the day. Then, (we're open) until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, so people can come in and watch the action on our big screens. It's pretty exciting," said Connolly.

Organizers said they hope 4,000-5,000 people will experience Fan Fest each day.

Organizers will be airing live feeds of every wrestling match on big screens inside of HyVee Hall for the fans without tickets. The event begins again 10:30 a.m. Thursday free of charge.

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